Independent Gov. Charlie Crist gets a boost from one of the state's highest-profile progressives:
A day after a statewide poll showed he was losing support among Democrats, independent Gov. Charlie Crist's bid for the U.S. Senate got a boost Sunday from a former Democratic congressman who is a favorite son, particularly among politically active South Florida Jewish retirees.
Threading his way through sign-waving critics who labeled him a turncoat, former U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler said he never expected to endorse a onetime Republican stalwart against his party's candidate and probably never would again.
"There is a special time in which elected officials have to put country before party, and this is one of those times," the seven-term congressman told a crowd of his former constituents at Century Village west of Boca Raton. "I am here to endorse Gov. Charlie Crist because he has earned it. He has truly earned it."
While both Wexler and Crist were greeted with warm applause by the predominantly Democratic audience of about 500 retirees, not all were swayed by - or happy about - Wexler's support for the governor over the Democratic candidate, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek.
It's certainly a controversial move, but not too surprising. At least one Wexler staffer has been working for Crist for months, and they two politicians have been close for some time. The only question is whether this will really shake up a race that has given Republican teabagger Marco Rubio a free pass as Crist and Democratic nominee Kendrick Meek beat the crap out of each other vying for the same Democratic and left-of-center voters.
This is what happens when you give Rubio the free pass:
It's an all-around mishmash of suck. Rubio is gaining. Crist is plummeting, and Meek is rising all the way up to ... a less embarrassing third place finish. There's absolutely zero there to get excited about.
Meek's best chance of victory was based on Crist and Rubio nuking each other. Unfortunately, that never happened. And anger at the Wexler endorsement is unlikely to change that dynamic.